Last Meal
by chapellefan
Summary: Principal Takenaka surprises Yusuke just as he's closing up shop. Yusuke remembers how he got here while serving his teacher a bowl of ramen. Dedicated to Brice Armstrong.


(**Disclaimer: **This is a non-profit fan work. I do not own or claim to own the property known as Yu Yu Hakusho. Yu Yu Hakusho is copyrighted and owned by Shueisha, Weekly Shounen Jump and Yoshihiro Togashi and is licensed and localized by Funimation Entertainment. Please Support the Official Release.)

**Last Meal**

Former Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi made his living running a small Ramen stand. While the profits were meager at best, the shop gained a very favorable reputation for anyone who managed to drop by for a bite. Long gone were the days of Yusuke chasing after demons and criminals. Having quit his position from the Spirit World, he had long settled into his new role as the smart mouthed cook who often mouthed off to ungrateful customers.

After a long day with no customers, Yusuke took the moonlight sky as a sign to close up. He was just about to turn the lights off when a figure approached him.

"Sorry, pal, we're closed," Yusuke said, his face turned the other way.

"Not even for your old Principal?" an elderly but warm voice asked.

Former Principal Takenaka looked particularly out of character. Instead of wearing his usual beige suit with blue tie or the black suit he wore to Yusuke's wake, he was instead in a Red Tracksuit, as though he came back from a long jog. His blonde hair now had streaks of grey in it and began to recede. Yusuke could also count much more wrinkles on Takenaka's face.

"Sure, why not?" Yusuke turned around and began heating up the stove.

As Yusuke prepared Takenaka's bowl of ramen, his mind wondered back to his Junior High days. Before Yusuke's death, Yusuke often thought of Takenaka as an authority figure meant to nag him into submission while being a hypocrite. Yusuke unfairly placed him in the same category as Mr. Iwamoto only to realize, at Yusuke's wake, that Takenaka thought more highly of him than that. Shamefully, Yusuke didn't really keep in contact with him during his Spirit Detective days or his three year trip into the Demon World.

"You're looking well," Takenaka said.

"Sorry, I don't take tips in the form of compliments," Yusuke continued to have his back turned as he finished up the ramen.

"Am I so transparent?" Takanaka smiled.

"Not as much as you think you are," Yusuke placed the bowl of ramen in front of his principal.

"I'm glad to see you doing so well for yourself," Takenaka said, separating his chopsticks and picking up a hearty helping of noodles.

"Oh, you should see me during my off hours," Yusuke said. Of course, Yusuke wasn't sure how to put 'by the way, I was almost king of the Demon World this one time until I was knocked out by this other asshole and lost the tournament I started in the first place' into a conversation without making it terribly awkward.

"It's good!" Takenaka said before taking another bite of ramen.

"Well, my wife's a cook after all," Yusuke washed the other dishes he intended to leave until the next day. "She'd be pissed at me if I gave somone a lousy meal. It'd give her family a bad reputation if she married someone who couldn't make ramen."

"I'm glad to hear Keiko's doing well," Takenaka chuckled.

"How's retired life treating you?" Yusuke took a rag and started to wipe down various parts of the stand.

"Not as comforting as I had hoped," Iwamoto said. "I'm going to miss that school."

"Don't tell me Iwamoto or Akashi took over!" Yusuke yelled. The thought of Iwamoto becoming the Sarayashiki Junior High principal stirred something inside Yusuke so fiercely, the former Spirit Detective was tempted to use his Demon powers to blow up his former school.

"Of course not!" Takenaka said, affronted at the idea. "I wouldn't let those vultures near my school. In fact, one of my last acts as principal was to fire those two."

"Some good news for once," Yusuke sighed.

"Yusuke, do you remember that boy you saved that day you got hit by a car?"

"How could I forget?" Yusuke replied. Saving that boy started everything for Yusuke: taking his trial, returning to life, becoming a Spirit Detective, training under Genkai, taking on Team Toguro at the Dark Tournament, hunting down Sensui and discovering his Demon ancestry and going into the Demon world.

"You'll never believe this, on his spare time, he volunteers as a crossing guard!" The older man chuckled.

"Yeah?" Yusuke asked. "Good for him."

As Takenaka finished the ramen, he set the empty bowl down, placed the chopsticks on top and reached into his suit's pockets.

"Darn, I think I forgot my wallet," Takenaka continued to dig deeper into his pockets.

"Woah, I wasn't serious!" Yusuke said, waving his hand off. "I'm not going to charge my old principal for a meal!"

"You're too kind," Takenaka slowly got up from his booth seat.

"You know Yusuke, out of all the students I had, you were, by far, the biggest pain in the ass."

"I get that a lot," Yusuke smirked.

"But you were also the one I was most proud to see graduate," Takenaka smiled.

"Easy, or you're going to make me blush…" Yusuke scratched the back of his neck out of a nervous tick.

"I'm glad to see you made something great out of yourself," the former Principal smiled.

"Ready to go?" A female voice said. Yusuke didn't need to turn around to recognize Botan's voice, her signature oar she was currently riding on, or the bright pink kimono she was wearing, but did so anyway to wipe the countertop around Tanaka's meal.

"That's right," Takenaka said, turning to Botan and taking her hand.

"We usually don't allow ghosts to enjoy human meals," Botan tucked a blue strand of hair behind her ear "You should consider yourself grateful."

"I am," Takenaka smiled.

"Any message you want to pass onto Koenma while I'm there, Yusuke?" Botan asked, gripping one hand onto her oar with the other holding Takenaka's hand.

"Tell Pacifier Breath I hope he'll graduate to pull-ups this century," Yusuke smirked, picking up Takenaka's empty bowl and placing into the sink.

"Still have no regard for authority, eh, Mr. Urameshi?" Takenaka sighed.

"I can't grow up too fast!" Yusuke smirked. "Otherwise you wouldn't recognize me!"

"Goodbye, Yusuke," Takenaka smiled, holding onto Botan's hand as she flew them upwards towards the night sky.

"What's he saying goodbye for?" Yusuke sighed. "I'll see him soon enough…"

(**A/N:** For those of you who don't know, Brice Armstrong, the voice performer for the Dragonball Narrator, the original Captain Ginyu in Dragonball Z and most notably, in my opinion, Principal Takenaka from Yu Yu Hakusho, passed away at age 84. So I decided to write this quick one-shot to honor his memory. I give my condolences to his friends and family. Thank you for your performances.

Until then,

Keep writing!)


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